MovieChat Forums > Drinking Buddies (2013) Discussion > Jill's character - Incredibly naive or j...

Jill's character - Incredibly naive or just dumb

posted 9 years ago by Airman87
13 replies | jump to latest

Here she (Jill) is, seeing her boyfriend (Luke) and his coworker (Kate) flirting with each other openly at the company party in front of everyone, she goes on a double-date to a resort house and sees Kate and Luke flirting, touching, hanging out late at night, Luke hanging out late with Kate at bars, Luke inviting Kate for dinner, Luke not wanting to talk about marriage, etc, and she (Jill) clearly doesn't even suspect anything.

Of course a probable rebuttal is because she's worried about an innocent kiss she had on the hike with Chris, but that still doesn't offer full explanation, because several of the above events happened even before that beach house trip...

She wouldn't have felt so guilty about an innocent kiss if she expected them to be attracted to one another. More telling, she wasn't looking for an omen or admission from Luke when she confessed to a kiss, which makes me believe she did not suspect anything.

Jill's characted must be incredibly naive, or just dumb.

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When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.

[–] rachelwebster 9 years ago

or maybe she just trusts her boyfriend and isn't as insecure and naïve as she seems.

[–] Airman87 9 years ago

isn't as insecure

Jill obviously is moderately insecure if she felt the immense guilt of needing to leave her CR trip early to tell Luke about a kiss that meant nothing from a guy she doesn't even love.

_______
When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.

[–] legendlength 9 years ago

I don't think that is insecurity rather it's integrity.

[–] Airman87 9 years ago

But the same can be said if Jill waited until after her Costa Rica trip, no?

If she wasn't insecure or feeling guilty, she wouldn't have felt the urgent need to come home, knowing it could wait.

Likewise, if she was completely honest from the start, she just would've said it right after it happened rather than wait.

_______
When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.

[–] ACME_Horses 7 years ago

Returning early from her trip probably had little to do with insecurity, but was most likely due to her true feelings about her boyfriend.

[–] pennilayne 9 years ago

I think him and Jill should have broken up. Obviously if he was even entertaining the thought of being with Kate, he wasn't in love with Jill. Obviously Jill felt that tension,you can tell he was annoyed driving back from the beach trip, you can tell shes a little weird whenever he brings up Kate, she brought up the marriage conversation literally the night Luke told her Kate and Chris broke up and I feel like her still staying with him is kind of a weak move. So not naive or dumb--just weak.

She allowed him to never talk about really getting married, to flirt with Kate all the time in front of everyone --even her. She even kissed Chris because she was probably confused as well and upset about his obvious crush on Kate. Luke was a good a guy. I also liked Chris. Jill was a nice girl but shows a bad representation of those girls who settle, and allow their relationships to stay in limbo. The ending would have been better if she came back from Costa Rica, confessed, and then said she realized they were never going to get married, and even though she loves him, she gets it's not working..and for him to confess he feels the same. She even said she met him when she was really young and didn't get to date a whole lot. And then the ending with them just realizing they were way better as friends, would have been good too.

[–] Airman87 9 years ago

'Weak' or 'settled' could be interchangeable words here too; the naive I'm getting at, is at somepoint Jill made a conscious decision to start believing the B.S. from Luke. That she suppressed any thoughts they were flirting even when they were right in front her face. She had to have been creating an alternate reality rather than believe the truth in front of her.

_______
When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.

[–] lamont-hard 8 years ago

Some people are different, in the end they loved each other. Her moves fit her not us. I do feel she should have confronted the overly friendly friend of his whom seemed to disrespect her presence. That was the issue I had.

[–] Kaiser100 (48) a year ago

This would have been the logical ending. I felt that Luke and Kate are obviously in love with each other, but can't bring themselves to express it. When Kate starts crying when Luke leaves after their argument, and when he is shown driving with a blank stare on his face, it is very telling. So is the fact that Jill kissed Chris, a similarly intellectual type, even though nothing came of it.

I'm torn between liking the ambiguity of the ending and wanting a resolution. It felt like the director was subverting our expectations just for the hell of it, which I both admired and was mildly annoyed by. Come on, give us a resolution! Or not...

I guess because I've been in corresponding situations, three times actually, where I just couldn't express my feelings to the other person who obviously liked me and the moments were lost, and I've been alone for the long years since...I am prejudiced toward wanting Luke and Kate to *just f*cking admit it already*. People who are not in love don't fight the way they did at the end.

Oh well. The director was making a point that such is life, and our lives can turn on the smallest of things. What if Luke (my name as well) had not cut his hand and they had gone out to dinner that night? We all know what probably would have happened. There would be no coming back from that. And IMO, probably for the better. My life has turned on similarly small things, so there you go. We all bring to the table our own lives when it comes to intensely personal movies like this :)

[–] Chik_Kurosaki21 8 years ago

Is because she doesnt really care about him

[–] ACME_Horses 7 years ago

She's not naive or dumb. She trusts her boyfriend. Their relationship is relatively healthy. They work at it. They are still together. They seem happy with it. It doesn't have to work for you; you have different opinions about what a relationship is.

[–] Airman87 7 years ago

Naiveness helps define trust. Naiveness isn't soluble by trust. We are past the broad analysis of trust. I'm sure she trusted him; we are asking why.

A 12 year old can fully trust a stranger giving them a ride, but that is because they are naive. Likewise, a 50 year old whose been previously assaulted several times by hitching a ride with strangers may be dumb enough to do it again.

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When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.

[–] Stirchley 7 years ago

Jill knew exactly what was going on. Kate definitely worried her especially when Luke told her Kate had broken up with Chris. (Actually the other way round, which was funny.) Jill knew better than to bring up her suspicions & fears to Luke because then it would make them real. She hoped & believed that whatever Luke & Kate felt about each other would eventually burn itself out, which, to my mind, it did.